Fiction:

Humor Collections

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The Walking Jesters share stories of overcoming tragedy with comedy.

Fledgling actress Cecelia Montegue is trying to save her career, but life has other plans: her least favorite relative is seconds from death, her mother is being attacked by a Christmas tree, and her agent is hiding behind a gatekeeping intern wearing a pink gorilla suit. Over the course of 27 hours, Cecelia must find a way to be a responsible daughter, a dutiful grieving niece, and a warrior for the fate of her career. Meanwhile, across town, other stories unfold during this day that won’t seem to end, including a dinner gone wrong, a funeral full of song, an agent gone bad, an artist studio gone mad, and an ex who won’t stay gone because he needs to cop fifty bucks for an hour—two tops.

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First Line: "The pink gorilla handed me a tissue as I sat in the reception area outside my editor’s office trying to salvage my dignity."

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NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon.com in Paperback and e-Book!!

The Broken Rebel

Tess Lane has returned home to mourn her brother. The problem is, no one can prove he’s dead. No longer willing to live in the limbo of not knowing, Tess begins her own search, so she can find closure and start life anew. Locating a motorcycle identical to the one her brother was riding when he vanished sets her on a path to find answers. As she, her sister, and her brother’s best friend gather to face their grief, relationships are forever changed, and a new sense of family is forged.

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Also included are stories of others seeking closure on things that limit them moving forward, including a motorcycle crying Puh, a damsel whose rescue is distressing, a bootlegger guarding a secret, a security guard confronting the danger of his own imagination, and a toaster seeking freedom!

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First Line: "Forty-five minutes before my sister’s martini brunch and I was going nowhere."

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Release Date: 2020

Full-Contact Scrabble

The members of the Rock Island Author’s Club know the power of words to win the game. Novelist and exotic confectioner, Cookie, finds her shop under siege by the attractive handyman’s incompetence. Joslyn suspects her husband is up to no good, but while she could contend with another woman, she may not be ready to confront her husband’s real double life and the reason he ran away from work to join the circus. Tess is confronted by a fairy cult infiltrating her neighborhood. And Sharona may have found the ultimate unattainable man of her dreams on the stage of a local nightclub. As told in 27 episodes, players must face their fears, their passions, and their willingness to cheat to win. The answers to their fates lie among the letter tiles of the club’s weekly game night.

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First Lines: "In the game of Scrabble®, the goal is simple: Use the most letters to create words that rack up the highest points. If you can convince your opponent that "Omnibigog" is the Latin word for an all-powerful biped with a cold, all the better."

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Release Date: 2021

Non-Fiction:

Cozy Comedy Memoirs

After R.J. Rowley burned water, spent seven hours baking a potato, and hard boiled the egg timer, her mother insisted she learn how to be in the kitchen without setting bacon on fire. How to Be Funny and Make People Fat is a cozy comedy memoir featuring recipes and vignettes about how her mother influenced her comedic, culinary, and life skills in and out of the kitchen.

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First Line: "My mother would be the first to agree that it was my cooking skills which drove me to comedy."

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NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon.com in Paperback and e-Book!!

How to Be Hilarious & Make People Fatter

After attempting to launch an underground Goth baking movement using a cherry pie and a dream, humor writer RJ Rowley realized her destiny still lay in writing humor. Making fun of some of her favorite dessert recipes, Rowley brings the comedy to the kitchen with 12 new comedy vignettes about cooking, life, and the power of gluten.

Best of all, each slice of unsolicited advice included in this collection is gluten-free!

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NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon.com as a Compilation in Paperback and Individual e-Books!!

Advice from a Toaster: College Edition, Vol 4-6

Forget what you’ve learned on social media; everything you need to know to get through the labyrinth of academia—such as avoiding zombification, pretending you care about athletics (aka sports), and facing employment after graduation—is included in this four-volume set. Featured guides include:

• Volume 4: The Origin of Zombies: How to Diagnose Academia-Induced Zombification and Avoid Contracting It during Finals

• Volume 5: Go, Team! Do the Sports!: A Manual to Help Anyone Feign Interest in Athletics

• Volume 6: The Avocado Cartel: An Instruction Manual on Work (Yes, Work) for Office Drones, Entrepreneurs, and People Who Will Never Retire

Be prepared to learn everything (not) to do to make it in the real world.

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Release Date: 2020

Advice from a Toaster: Monster Edition, Vol 7-9

Forget the Self-Help section of your local bookstore; everything you need to know to survive such essential activities as eating, exercising, mating, stressing, and facing the reality of death is included in this four-volume set. Featured guides include:

Be prepared to learn everything (not) to do to make it through adulthood.

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Release Date: 2021

How to Tickle a Rattlesnake: The Laughable Guide to Writing Humor

So, you think you’re funny, eh? Well, then it is time to put your funny on paper. This guide to embracing your humor and entering the world of comedy writing, includes five sections of curriculum that cover all levels of writing a book from making the commitment to write to getting it past your critique group and out for the general public to read.

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First Line: "Welcome, everyone! Please, take a seat. Don’t be shy. We’re all here for the same reason. It’s because of our Funny."

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Release Date: 2021

How to Tickle a Rattlesnake: The Workbooks

So, you think you’re funny, eh? Well, this is the book where you have to do the work. Based on the curriculum developed by R.J. Rowley, these five sections of workbooks will guide you through the commitment to your comedy to getting up in front of strangers and promoting your work. Are you ready to get to work? Grab a workbook.